Table 1 shows one common other fuel system related problems of the 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Other Fuel System problems |
Engine mechanical ~|~check and report. . . Check engine light and vsc light on dash, . Found inverter pump not working properly ~|~replaced inverter water pump.
I was driving the vehicle and heard a loud popping noise on the way to the dealership for recall work. Once the technician opened the inverter case we found the wiring harness for both the inverter and transmission were completely melted and cooked due to a fire inside the inverter. I am now looking at a $15000 repair bill with Toyota and luckily my family and I were not burned alive or in an accident resulting in fatalities.
There was fire in the inverter assembly. The wiring harness for the inverter and the transmission were completely cooked and melted. The professional opinion of a Toyota national engineer is that the generator in the trans axle surged and caused a fire melting the components. How can this go un-investigated with so many of these vehicles on the road. My family and I could have been burned alive or in a fatal crash due to this completely unsafe system. How can Toyota continue to say they are all about safety when they will not do anything about issues like this. They have sent me a $16,000 bill for this issue that is completely a product of their poor and unsafe vehicle.
The case was stopped and placed in parking when the vehicle started moving forward at about 3 mph. I almost hit a car 5 feet in front of me(at the time I placed the highlander in parking gear) and it ended 6 inches away from the car in the front. I had to step on the brake shift gears from parking to drive. Shift again to parking and while keeping the brakes on I pressed on the parking brake and turned the car off. There was no incline in the street or any decline observable that could have caused the original failure. My wife and my 1 year old child were inside the car when this happened.
My wife was backing out of our driveway when the car suddenly lost power to the wheels and all of the warning lights came on. She was unable to move the car forward or backward to get the car out of the lane of traffic. We got the car towed to the local Toyota dealership. They informed us that the inverter was bad and we needed a new one. We had received a recall notice about replacing an "intelligent power module" and had the repairs done Jan 9th 2013. The repair shop has said that the replaced part is working and that it is the inverter itself that has gone bad. I have seen many other complaints about this problem online. I am just thankful that she wasn't going highway speed with our child in the car when she lost power. That could have been very dangerous.
Engine mechanical ~|~check and report. . . Check engine light and vsc light on dash, ,,car lost power while driving, had to pull over and get the vehicle towed in to the dealership. . . ~|~tech pulled code p0a05,p0a08,p0a93, . . . Found inverter pump not working properly ~|~replaced inverter water pump.
I experienced total power loss to the engine and steering of my 2006 Toyota Highlander Hybrid while driving down the highway. Toyota wants $7000 to replace the hybrid power inverter. Toyota refuses to disclose frequency of this failure. Identical failures can be found in online forums, all with the 2006 highlander or with the 2006 Lexus RX 400h. Potentially deadly failure followed by a price gouging repair costs.